Bellway profits soar on back of strong housing demand March 25, 2015 The numbers Homebuilder Bellway has reported a jump in profit before tax of 53 per cent to £159m for the half year ended 31 January. Revenue climbed 18.7 per cent to £831.2m. In good news for shareholders, dividends per share soared 56 per cent to 25p. Completions for the period rose 15.7 per cent from the [...]
Housing bubble psychology: Why Wall Street isn’t smarter than Mr Average September 2, 2014 LURID stories about the excesses in the UK housing market continue to proliferate. True, there is some evidence of a cooling, as price rises tempt more sellers into the market and temporarily increase supply relative to demand. But at the same time, we learn in the Sunday Times that the good burghers of Cobham in [...]
Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow plans to make City Giving Day bigger and better July 6, 2015 How much do you really know about the charitable work your company is doing? Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow thinks it is time the City shouted a bit louder about the good it does on top of its invaluable financial operations – and he wants your company to join in. The best can hope to be [...]
July Budget 2015: Are you an entrepreneur, an apprentice or a single parent? What does George Osborne’s statement mean for you? July 8, 2015 THE SINGLE PARENT Catherine Gannon, 51Managing partner at law firm Gannons Gannons Commercial Law continues to do well, with profits and earnings up on last year. Catherine is commercially savvy and has restructured the business from an LLP to a limited company, illustrating that she is a smart operator in a segmented legal [...]
Aberdeen puts on the pedal cleats for a three year cycle deal April 20, 2015 ABERDEEN Asset Management made its first foray into the cycling arena yesterday with a maiden sponsorship of a pro-cycling team. The funds house will augment its famous sponsorship of Cowes Week – the glitzy week of sailing during August – with a three year deal to sponsor NFTO (Not For The Ordinary), the UK’s number [...]
Countrywide profits jump July 31, 2014 BRITAIN’S largest estate agency Countrywide yesterday hailed its strongest first-half results since just before the crisis in 2007, buoyed by growth in the UK’s housing market. Pre-tax profits rose by 200 per cent to £37m in the six months to 30 June compared with the same time last year after selling its stake in online [...]
Don’t fear the SNP: The City can do business with Scottish nationalists May 12, 2015 When Parliament reconvenes next week, there will be many new faces among the throng of MPs being sworn in. For the first time, with no fewer than 56 representatives, the third largest party in the House of Commons will be the SNP. What will that mean for the City’s relationship with Westminster? On the one [...]
Persimmon share price falls despite profits jumping 44 per cent February 24, 2015 The figures Persimmon, the UK's biggest listed housebuilder, said underlying pre-tax profit jumped 44 per cent to £475m for the fiscal year 2014, up from £330m a year earlier. Full-year revenue rose 44 per cent to £475m, up from £330m in 2013. Completions – the number of homes built – rose 17 per cent to 13,509 while [...]
Don’t get burned by the buy-to-let boom: Funding retirement with rental income could turn into a disaster April 7, 2015 The new pensions freedoms are finally here and many savers will be considering taking a lump sum from their savings. Investing in a buy-to-let property to fund retirement may seem like a good idea, but pensions experts are warning of the risks. Eighteen years after the creation of the first buy-to-let mortgage, this form of [...]
The final countdown: Should we fear the outcome of the most tightly fought election for a generation? April 23, 2015 The UK is approaching the most unpredictable General Election for a generation. In our increasingly fractured political landscape, there is no clear frontrunner between Labour and the Conservatives, while a surge of support for the UK Independence Party, Scotland’s SNP and the Green Party has complicated the picture further. Many commentators have voiced concerns over [...]